


Up for some good time, I guess ?

by EliaAlice



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, I mean it, This is pure crack, it's really JUST CRACK
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 14:39:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3613695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EliaAlice/pseuds/EliaAlice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John, Zoe, Root, Shaw, Finch, a hotel corridor and the middle of the night. What could go wrong ? (In other words, Zoe and Root come face to face when they both sneak out of their room to go to their partner's one. Except it couldn't stay that simple.)<br/>Rated T for mention of tasers, I guess ?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Up for some good time, I guess ?

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this more than six months ago and totally forgot to post it... Oops. Kudos to Hala for being my awesome beta on this - you rock !

The day had been quite exhausting and the whole team was glad when they finally reached the hotel. The tricky number had required Zoe's help and then led them all out of New York. When they had eventually managed to resolve the situation, not going back to the city at 11 pm had seemed like the best idea to everyone.

After some tired goodnight wishes, Harold had retired to his room. It hadn't taken long for Reese, Zoe, Root and Shaw to do the same.

* * *

 

Zoe closed the door of her room as silently as she could. Taking away her shoes to prevent her heels from clacking against the wooden floor, she started to tiptoe to John's room.

The sound of another door slowly opening in the hallway made her freeze, while her mind was desperately searching for a way to explain her presence here.

Root finally appeared, her back to Zoe, trying to pull the creaking door closed without making too much noise. Her hair was free on her shoulders, and she was barefoot but still as dressed up and made up as the fixer.

Zoe's expression turned to a smirk. She had known the hacker for not even a day, but they both had the same love for teasing – much to John and Shaw's despair – and had soon started trying to up one another. Their score – not that they kept score, really, nor were they sore losers, of course – was pretty much a tie so far. But since she was the one catching Root in the act here, it gave her the upper hand for now… And Zoe was determined not to lose that advantage. She wiped from her face all traces of her own slight embarrassment and waited for the hacker to notice her, decided to enjoy herself.

(Moreover, now John owed her 50 bucks. It had been obvious to her the whole day : Root and Shaw were _already_ in a relationship. Too bad for Reese if he was too blind to see it, Zoe thought, victorious.)

Root finally managed to close the door and lock it. Turning around, she startled a bit at the sight of Zoe, whose smirk only turned wider. An ironical flame was dancing in the fixer's eyes as Root's mind turned blank for a moment.

"So…" Zoe slowly started. "I take it tonight you'll be doing another kind of sleeping than the one it seemed we all had in mind when we got here ?" she asked rhetorically with obvious amusement, careful to keep her voice low.

Root blinked twice as her mind processed the situation, and after a short analysis she regained self-control very quickly. It looked like the both of them were in the same kind of situation after all, so there was no reason why she couldn't get her fair share of fun and teasing. Tilting her head to the side, she let a smirk spread across her own face as well.

"Well, if I take into account the fancy shoes in your hand and the fact that you're still wearing make-up, I'd say I'm not the only one who's planning on getting laid tonight", Root answered, a mischievous yet challenging spark in her eyes. There was no two ways about it : this situation was quickly going to turn from funny to a battle of egos, just like it had happened all day. And hell no, she wouldn't be the one to lose.

"You're one to tell", Zoe immediately retorted, her position not the least bit undermined by the other woman's cutting remark. "Is that a _taser_ I see in your hand ?"

A flash of mild surprise crossed Root's features, but faded away as quickly as it had appeared. Oh, yes, the taser. She had totally forgotten she had half-absent-mindedly taken it before leaving the room.

Her eyes lost focus for a split second, the time she needed to find an appropriate answer. Shaking her head slightly to get some strands of hair off her face, she took a step forward and opened her mouth to throw a new line Zoe's way. She didn't follow through with that though, as the sound of another creaking door echoed in the hallway, somewhere between the two women.

Shaw's head appeared in the doorway and her eyes immediately found the hacker's.

"Root ? What the fuck are you doing ? I did think I heard your voice !"

It's an intuition more than the expression on the other woman's face that made Shaw suddenly turn her head to the right and notice the fixer's presence. A split second was more than enough for her to assess the situation.

"Well, hello again Zoe. Up for some good time too I can see", she sarcastically let out. ("So much for the discretion, Root", she however added for herself. "If Zoe tells anyone else about this, I'm properly killing you.")

An awkward silence fell in the hallway. The fixer was starting to feel a bit outnumbered – usually this wouldn't have been a problem, but Shaw's arrival had shattered the little game of dominance she had had going on with Root. Caught by surprise, she didn't know how to react and didn't manage to recover immediately.

For her part, the hacker stayed quiet too despite having a retort ready, unwilling to push Shaw's boundaries too far and reach the point of no return. They were both still figuring out how to handle their newly-started relationship and Root was too smart not to know when shutting up was really necessary. Because Shaw was clearly the most embarrassed out of the three of them… Well, maybe embarrassed wasn't the right word, the hacker quickly corrected herself. By the look in the smaller woman's eyes, murderously annoyed seemed to fit way much better.

The silence went on for a while, each one of the three women alternatively looking at the other two, waiting for someone to end this awkward moment. None of them seemed to know how to do it though.

It was eventually interrupted by the sound of another door opening, and it slightly startled the three women – although Shaw would have sworn _she_ hadn't flinched.

Root and Zoe both let out a desperate faint sigh, clearly not thrilled with being caught in that situation by yet another person. As for Shaw, she hurriedly tried to move back into her room and close the door.

"Traitor", Root thought, rolling her eyes.

The smaller woman didn't succeed though, because the door that was opening was the one in right front of hers, and Reese immediately saw her. Shaw closed her eyes for a few seconds and let out a low grunt. This almost improbable situation was turning ridiculously not at her advantage at all and she had a feeling John was going to tease her with it for _months_ , if not _years_. She _was_ going to kill Root after all.

"Shaw", Reese started, a bit surprised at first. "Not sleeping quite yet ?"

The latter didn't answer and just glowered at him.

A move caught John's attention on his right as Root leant against the wall and crossed her arms. This was going to be a long night, the hacker thought.

"Root", Reese slowly noted as he narrowed his eyes to stare at her, trying to figure out exactly what kind of situation he had just walked in. The hacker averted her eyes and looked at Shaw instead, wondering just how much she was going to pay for being caught like that. By the look on the smaller woman's face… Probably a lot.

When Shaw saw the ghost of a playful smile appear on John's lips, she slammed her head back against the doorway. She _hated_ being made fun of but this was something she would never get away with. Never, _ever_.

At this point, it didn't even cross her mind that she could have her revenge by teasing Reese with Zoe.

John's eyes snapped back at Shaw and his eyebrows rose mockingly. He opened his mouth but got cut out by Root before he could speak.

"Before you throw at Shaw whatever cutting line you have in mind, let me just point out that I'm not the only one paying a _friend_ a nocturnal visit", she said with a smirk, very much determined not to let him have all the fun. She ironically insisted on the word 'friend' and Reese immediately understood the implied.

"You owe me 50 bucks, John", he heard almost at the same time from a voice on his left that he recognized immediately.

Looking at Zoe, Reese answered without missing a beat.

"Because you have proof this has already happened before ?"

"Wait", Shaw cut them, "what did you bet onexactly ?"

"It's been so obvious to me during the whole damn day that you two are already in a relationship, but John here didn't want to believe me", Zoe cryptically answered, a victorious smile barely hidden on her face.

Shaw's mouth opened incredulously and she slowly turned her head back to look at Reese, annoyance clearly showing on her features. Root refrained from laughing at the smaller woman's reaction, not really surprised herself about such a bet. And not caring the least bit either, to be perfectly honest.

"You took a bet on us ?!" Shaw rhetorically asked for confirmation, her voice dangerously low.

"In my defense, it wasn't my idea", John shrugged slightly.

"But you still went through with it", she retorted.

"Too bad for him since he lost", Zoe pointed out.

The fixer was clearly enjoying herself now. This whole situation had gone from slightly embarrassing for her to very enjoyably funny at someone else's expense. She definitely wasn't going to complain about that plot twist.

"You can't be sure about this yet, Zoe", Reese smiled.

Shaw was now looking alternatively at the both of them with murderous eyes, too stunned by the fact that they were casually discussing her private life in the middle of the corridor as if she wasn't here to even find something to say.

"Yes I am ! It's so obvious, you need to be blind not to see those two are together. And we even have a very tangible evidence of that here", Zoe smirked as she eyed up and down a still barefoot, dressed up and made up Root, who was currently resting casually against the wall. The fixer had decided that embarrassing everyone the most she could was now her goal.

"It's not that I wouldn't appreciate you two starting a cat fight – actually, I'm quite sure I'd very much enjoy watching it -, but Sameen on the other hand would probably strangle you both. So let me cut it short : John, you indeed owe Zoe those 50 bucks", Root said.

Shaw snapped her glare back at Root, as if she had just been reminded of the other woman's presence.

"Yeah sure Root, encourage them to bet on my private life ! Why don't you give some details while you're at it ?" she spat incredulously.

"Well, they had already guessed anyway", Root shrugged and scrunched her nose. "I don't see the point in denying it now."

"You need to learn to take responsibility for your actions, Shaw", Reese smirked, trying to stay serious but failing miserably. He took a small step forward and pulled the door of his room, leaving it ajar, before leaning against the doorway. He was beginning to enjoy himself very much too.

Shaw finally regained self-control and forced a smile at John.

"Says the man dating another co-worker and having her sneak up in his room at night too. Are you sure you're in the best position to lecture me ? Because I never heard you mention that you two have a history together when Zoe and I met before !"

"Probably because this isn't any of your business !" Reese and the fixer answered at the same time.

"We were even married once", Zoe added.

Three heads turned to look at her.

"Long story", she shrugged. "We divorced anyway. Too bad it wasn't official, I would have gladly fought him for custody of the dog."

Shaw raised an eyebrow, interested and a bit amused too now. She looked back at Reese.

"And then I'm the one being secretive…"

It was John's turn to feel a bit uncomfortable.

"It was for a number living in the suburbs", he tried to explain.

"Yeah, whatever you say", Shaw nodded with an ironical smile.

Root was watching the whole bickering scene, laughing under her breath, though she was starting to have a hard time containing her giggle. All of this was becoming priceless.

"Anyway, how long have you two been together ?" Reese asked after a few seconds with an innocent face, very much decided not to let Shaw take full control of the situation.

The latter immediately went back to scowling, not pleased with being the topic of conversation again, and didn't answer.

 Root briefly wondered if she should do it for Shaw, but decided it was none of Reese's business anyway. Moreover, it wasn't worth incurring the other woman's wrath even more for something so futile. She retorted something else instead.

"So what about you two ? It looks like your relationship is serious business after what you both said earlier."

"We go back quite a while now", Zoe answered instead of John. She was smiling, not being the least bit embarrassed about revealing some details of their relationship. Self-confidence was radiating from her.

"Congratulations, big lug", the hacker smirked. "You have very good taste", she then added, winking at Zoe.

"Well, thank you for the compliment", the latter said, playing Root's game. Making fun of John was really too easy and she wasn't going to stop anytime soon. She would keep on doing this as long as she could.

Unfortunately, the conversation suddenly came to a stop when yet another door opened. They had stopped trying to be discreet for a while now… And had obviously pissed someone off.

That someone turned out to be a very sleepy Harold, who opened the door and grumbled loudly at the same time.

"Can't you respect other people's sleep and have your conversation _elsewhere_ ? Have you looked at the hour ?!"

A thick silence fell in the hallway while a still half-asleep Finch was slowly trying to assimilate the information his brain was sending him.

"… Oh", was the only thing he managed to let out when he realized who were the people making so much noise. Why was there a meeting of the rest of the team in the corridor ? What was he missing ? Blinking, he tried to wake himself up a bit more, but without much success.

Reese, Zoe, Root and Shaw were looking at one another, all of them feeling how ridiculous and awkward the situation had just become. After a few seconds, John was the first one to react.

"Sorry, Harold", he simply answered a bit shamefully.

"What is happening here ? Why are you all in that hallway ?" Finch asked, still irritated. "… And why is miss Groves holding a taser ?!" he then added, a frightened spark with a hint of worry appearing in his eyes.

Root looked at the taser that was still in her hand but that she had once again totally forgotten with a tinge of surprise, then at Shaw with a sheepish face. The latter slammed once again her head against the doorway, this time with a deep annoyed sigh. Now _this_ was going to be the ultimate in embarrassment, she thought.

For his part, Finch was still totally out of it and hadn't even begun to figure out the situation.

Zoe unexpectedly came to the hacker's rescue.

"Don't worry, Harold, Root is not planning on using it for evil purposes tonight. We were actually planning on comparing our toys but were interrupted by those two", she said, showing Shaw and Reese with a small gesture of the hand, "and they had a fit of jealousy when they realized I hadn't invited them. As if they were using tasers very often anyway", she added somewhat mockingly.

Finch pulled a face while Root, Shaw and Reese stared at Zoe, half-impressed and half-thankful. They were all relieved that the fixer was misleading Harold, neither of them wanting him to figure out the real reasons why they were all gathered here – and it seemed like Zoe didn't want Finch to know she was in a romantic relationship with John either –, but they were also all stunned by how easily the fixer was delivering her lie - not even talking about how fast she had managed to make up a coherent explanation.

"I'm sorry we woke you up, Harold, I didn't mean to. I had even removed my heels in order to be silent when I had gotten out of my room to go check on Root since she was late", Zoe kept on, showing the shoes still in her hand. "But she got out of her own room before I could get there myself and we started talking while she was closing the door… Since Shaw and John have quite an acute hearing, they heard us and… Well, you know the rest", she lastly said with a very convincing sheepish face.

The story Zoe had just invented was actually very credible. Reese, Shaw and Root all let out a small sigh of relief when Harold accepted it without any more questions.

"Well next time, please just argue _elsewhere_ ! Now I wish you all a good night while I'm going to try and finish mine", he grumpily grumbled one last time before heading back to his room.

Reese, Root and Shaw were still looking at Zoe, awed by the way she had handled the situation. The latter eventually shrugged, smiling slightly.

"What ? I just thought this was the best way to dismiss him quickly without too many questions asked."

"Well, Zoe, you kept your cards well hidden. I knew you were good at lying on the long term, but to invent one so fast ? I'm impressed", John answered, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, me too", Shaw added with a little tilt of the head and the ghost of a smile, clearly appreciative of the other woman's competences and very much enjoying watching it.

Root was the only one who didn't say anything, looking at Shaw's expression instead.

"Well thank you, but now that this is settled, maybe we could all go back to our room – or, at least, the room where we're supposed to be for the night ?" Zoe smirked knowingly.

"I'm all for that", Root agreed.

As Shaw and Reese were staying silent, the two women moved to join them. Some awkward goodbyes later, the doors were closed.

* * *

 

"At least that was an interesting night", John noted.

"Wanna bet on how much more interesting it's going to get ?" Zoe smirked playfully, hastily throwing her heels somewhere in the room.

* * *

 

"You are so going to pay for everything that happened out there", Shaw whistled through gritted teeth.

"Make me", Root smirked.

The other woman glared at her for a few seconds before pressing her lips hard against the hacker's. Root absent-mindedly tossed her taser on a piece of furniture nearby and tangled her fingers in Shaw's hair, kissing her back gleefully.


End file.
